


should I stay or should I go?

by winterzayn



Category: One Direction (Band), Stranger Things (TV 2016), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: American AU, M/M, Multi, OT5 Friendship, Paranormal, Supernatural Elements, stranger things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:46:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7843699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterzayn/pseuds/winterzayn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Ziam AU oneshot based off of the Netflix original series <i>Stranger Things</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	should I stay or should I go?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> So what happened was I wrote a Stranger Things drabble on tumblr for my friend, Leen, and a few people really liked it and wanted me to continue it... 
> 
> **update 9/13/17 ** I never got around to continuing it unfortunately. So I decided to just title it and leave it as a oneshot.
> 
> This is un-beta'ed so any mistakes are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things/One Direction/Zayn and this is a work of fiction.

**Liam**

 

“ _HARRY_!” Louis yelled again through the open window, practically right in Liam’s ear. The rain that was pelting the outside of the car soaked the back of Liam’s head and neck.

Liam gripped the steering wheel tighter, fighting against the weather to keep the car on the road. Even on the highest setting, the windshield wipers were barely doing their job, limiting Liam’s already lowered visibility while attempting to navigate the pitch black road.

In the passenger’s seat to his right, Niall was crouched in his seat with his head and shoulders out the car window, also calling for Harry. Liam couldn’t imagine how they’d even be able to spot their friend in this weather. Harry could be standing right in the middle of the road and Liam doubted he’d be able to see him.

“Slow down, Payno!” Louis called from the seat directly behind Liam. Liam complied, rolling along at a glacial 10 mph.

This particular road was thankfully almost always quiet. It was surrounded on either side by thick forest and went on for miles and miles.

“Are we close to where he was last seen?” Liam asked Niall.

“I think so. ‘S hard to tell with the rain, though,” Niall answered.

Liam, Niall, Louis and Harry had been friends since childhood; they’d grown up on the same street and spend more time in each other’s houses then their own. It felt strange with just the three of them driving around. Liam swallowed back the lump in his throat just thinking about Harry’s absence.

Two days ago, Harry went to work and never returned home. According to rumors that Liam wasn’t sure he believed, Harry had been seen in the woods along this road. The eyewitness account hadn’t provided any further information, just that a young man matching Harry’s description was walking through the woods.

“Maybe we should pull over and get out and walk?” Niall suggested. Liam eased the car to a stop before cutting the engine and bracing himself for leaving the protection of the car.

The hood of Liam’s sweatshirt wasn’t doing much to keep him dry and he was dripping wet within seconds. It was the kind of ice cold rain that was coming down with such force that it was painful and Liam wished he could get back in the car.

“ _HARRY_!” Liam shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. The three of them started walking, all calling for Harry over the sound of the rain hitting the trees all around them.

The deeper they went into the woods, unsure if they were even looking in the right area, the harder it was to see in front of them. At least Niall had had enough sense to bring a large flashlight with him but it only helped so much.

The loud popping noise of tree branches cracking from behind them, brought all three boys to halt.

Heart pounding, Liam slowly spun around. He thought he saw movement some ten feet in front of him but it could also just be his eyes playing tricks on him in the dark.

“Niall, give me that light.”

Liam turned the beam of light on the spot he thought he’d seen movement. Squinting, he saw a clear outline of a human figure moving quickly away from them.

“Hey!” Liam shouted, now walking in the direction of the figure.

Liam could see that the figure had stopped and was crouching behind a tree. As he got closer, it became clear that it was indeed a person. Not Harry, but a person.

“Hello? Are you alright?” Liam said, softening his voice. He couldn’t tell the age of the person, the frame was very slight with golden brown skin and very close cropped black hair.

Liam crouched down a couple feet from the person, lifting a sopping wet tree branch that was blocking his view.

Without warning, the person’s head shot up and Liam was met with a pair of large, terrified, brown eyes.

The eyes belonged to a guy wearing only a very large t-shirt and if Liam had to place his age, he’d say that he was most likely in his late teens. So roughly the same age as Liam, who had just turned 18.

Liam was so stunned by his discovery that he stumbled over his next words, “Wh- why-what are you doing out here?”

The boy didn’t answer, he just simply continued to stare at Liam with those impossibly huge eyes framed by long lashes.

“Uh… do you need help?” Liam asked, immediately biting his tongue because it was such a stupid question; of course this person needed help.

“Liam, wh-” Louis stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the person Liam was attempting to converse with. Niall cursed loudly as he ended up walking right into Louis’ back, unable to see in the dark.

“I um… I dunno, I just found him…” Liam trailed off, unable to tear his eyes away from the stranger’s. The intensity of his stare was beginning to make Liam feel kind of weird.

“Are you lost? Do you need to borrow a phone or anything?” Louis asked.

No response.

“ _Hello_? Are you deaf?” Louis prompted.

“Let’s get him to the car,” Niall suggested. “He shouldn’t be out here in this storm alone.”

“Are you joking, Niall, no fucking way! We don’t know who he is! He could be an escaped psycho for all we know!” Louis scoffed.

“Shut up, Lou,” Liam said flatly. The strange boy had now ducked his head between his knees, hiding his sharp-featured face. Liam was struck with the sudden urge to reach out and comfort the wet and shivering boy.

“He clearly needs help,” Liam argued, daring to creep closer so he could lay a gentle hand on the young man’s arm. The stranger snapped his head up once again, looking startled.

“No… uh, look it’s-we’re, we’re not gonna hurt you, okay? It’s alright, we just wanna help you,” Liam said, keeping his voice even and soft.

At the word _help_ , the stranger nodded, owlish eyes leaving Liam transfixed once again.

“Here, c’mon, I’ll help you stand up…” Liam reached out his hand and after staring at it hesitantly for a couple seconds, the boy took Liam’s hand and allowed him to help him stand.

“Let’s get you into the warm car so you can dry off, okay?” Liam asked. The boy nodded again and ended up clutching Liam’s hand stiffly the entire way back to the car.

The stranger looked at the car, eyes wide with fear, as he stood next to Liam. Niall opened the door to the backseat and gestured for the boy to climb in the car. After a tense few seconds of apparently deciding whether the vehicle could be trusted, the guy let go of Liam’s hand and slid into the backseat.

The car ride back to Liam’s house was one of the most awkward rides Liam had ever experienced. He kept glancing in the rear view mirror, angling so he could see the shivering stranger. He wished that he had some towels or something to dry off with so the boy didn’t have to sit there sopping wet for the whole ride.

“I don’t think this is good idea, guys,” Louis muttered under his breath. No one said anything to this. Liam and the stranger’s eyes met in his mirror again causing Liam’s pulse to jump unexpectedly.

“What’s your name?” Niall asked, spinning around to address the stranger behind him. Unsurprisingly, he got no response.

Liam pulled into his driveway, relief flooding him at the familiar sight of his house.

“Are you really gonna bring him inside your house, Payno? What’re you gonna tell your folks?” Niall asked.

“I’m not going to tell them anything,” Liam decided. “You guys are gonna help me sneak him into the basement.”

“I’m not gonna help you do shit, Payne,” Louis snapped. “You can’t just take a random kid you just find in the fucking woods and let him stay in your basement. Jesus Christ. He’s your problem, not mine.” Louis opened his door and exited the car, walking in the direction of his own house.

“I’ll help you get him inside, but I’ve gotta get home. My mom’s gonna kill me, it’s like one in the morning.” Niall said.

Liam opened the door so the boy could get out. He and Niall showed him to the outside door to the basement and walked him down the stairs, flicking on the lights as he went. Once the boy was sitting on the couch, Liam thanked Niall and said goodbye as Niall left through the same door.

“Stay right here, I’ll be right back,” Liam told his new houseguest, leaving through the basement door as well.

Just as he suspected, his mom was sitting in the living room watching TV when Liam came in the front door.

“Any luck?” was the first thing she asked. Liam shook his head. His mom eyed him sadly and expressed her sympathy for Liam’s missing friend by touching his shoulder. She went upstairs to bed not long after that leaving Liam alone downstairs. Quickly he gathered several towels, some clean clothes, a bottle of water, a bag of Doritos and a granola bar.

When he got back down to the basement, the boy was once again curled into a ball with his head between his knees, shaking uncontrollably. He looked up when he heard Liam approach.

“Here, I brought you some towels to dry off with. And some dry clothes. And some food.” The boy gave him a blank look so Liam simply handed him a towel. The boy buried his face in the cloth and then used it to dry the water from his arms and shorn head.

“You can put these on instead of your uh… shirt,” Liam suggested, thrusting the pile of clothes into the boy’s lap. “The bathroom’s over there,” he pointed to a door in the corner.

The boy stood up, placed the clothes on the couch and started to peel off the sopping wet garment.

“No! No, no I meant you can go change in the bathroom,” Liam said, blushing for some reason. _Why was he freaking out? It was just another guy taking off his shirt?_

“I-I mean if you… want…” Liam amended, seeing the fear and confusion on the boy’s face.

But the stranger just proceeded in removing the shirt and dropping it to the floor. He was wearing just a pair of white briefs and wrapped his arms around his thin torso, still shivering.

Liam averted his eyes when the boy started to peel off his underwear. After a minute, Liam turned back to the boy, dressed in a pair of Liam’s black sweatpants which were clearly too big for him.

Liam tried not to stare as the boy pulled on Liam’s Captain America t-shirt.

“Better?” Liam inquired and the boy nodded.

“Are you hungry?” Liam asked, offering the Doritos and the water.

“Yes.” The boy’s voice shocked Liam who was getting used to his silence.

“You can talk…” Liam said. But the boy’s attention was now focused on the bag of chips that he’d torn open and was shoving several in his mouth at once. Liam sat with him while he polished off the entire bag and then gulped the water for several seconds.

“Thank you,” the boy said, licking the fluorescent orange dust off his fingers.

“You’re welcome,” Liam replied. “You can uh… sleep down here tonight, if you want?”

The boy nodded, now peeling the wrapper off of the granola bar.

“One more thing,” Liam hesitated. “Do you have a name? Or… what can I call you?”

The boy extended his left forearm and pointed to a number inked there.

_002_

The way the the 2 was written made it look more like a Z, Liam thought.

“Zero, zero, two,” Liam read aloud. “What does that mean?”

The boy pointed to his chest using the half-eaten granola bar.

“You? Your name?” Liam asked and the boy nodded.

“To be honest, dude, that two looks kind of like a Z to me,” Liam told him. The boy looked at him quizzically.

“Y’know like the letter Z?” Now, the boy nodded in understanding.

“How ‘bout a name starting with Z?” Liam suggested. He got a nod in response.

“Ok uh…” Liam racked his brain for all the Z names he could think of. “Zack… Zeke… Zayn?”

“Zayn,” the boy repeated, nodding enthusiastically.

“Zayn,” Liam nodded. “I’m Liam, by the way.” Zayn just nodded.

“Well, Zayn, here’s a blanket and a pillow you can use. I’m going to go upstairs to sleep. But I promise I’ll come back down here and check on you in the morning, okay?”

“Promise?” Zayn asked, looking adorably confused.

“A promise is like…” Liam took a moment to decide how to explain what a promise was.

“Promise means… a promise means something that you can’t break. Something you say you’ll do and you’re not lying about it.”

“I understand,” Zayn said. He had finished eating the granola bar and was pulling the blanket up to wrap around his shoulders.

“Okay well… ‘night Zayn,” Liam said, turning to go up the stairs.

“’Night, Liam.” He heard from the couch behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> Come say hi: [my tumblr ](http://www.brightziam.tumblr.com)


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